Thomas Schaller writes:

“I think the energy will come from the governors,” said McDonnell, who this fall will try to snap the Democrats’ eight-year grip on the statehouse under Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. “That’s where a lot of the ideas are coming from.” For now, they don’t seem to share the same ideas as their fellow Republicans in Congress. Most have come out in support of the stimulus bill that the House GOP rejected, since they actually have to govern and need the money in the bill to do it.

That last sentence caught my eye. It links to an AP story that does indeed say that “Most Republican governors have broken with their GOP colleagues in Congress and are pushing for passage of President Barack Obama’s economic aid plan that would send billions to states for education, public works and health care.” But AP’s Beth Fouhy doesn’t come close to backing up that claim. As Mark Hemingway’s survey suggests, only five Republican governors are “pushing for passage.” We shouldn’t confuse governors who will take the money if the bill passes, or want their states to get their share of any money that is spent, with governors who actually favor the bill.

There is, by the way, nothing unprincipled about both opposing the bill and taking the money if it passes. (That is exactly what I would do as a governor, fwiw.)